Now that they’ve set the year’s best film for a December 10 debut, the Criterion Channel have unveiled the rest of next month’s selection. John Waters’ films are inseparable from John Waters’ presence, making fitting Criterion’s decision to pair an eight-film retrospective (Multiple Maniacs to Cecil B. Demented) with his own “Adventures in Moviegoing” wherein the director extols virtues of Bergman, Chabrol, Barbara Loden, and Samuel Fuller. His own Polyester will have a Criterion Edition alongside the Bob Dylan doc Don’t Look Back, an iconic film in its own right and, I think, fitting companion to The Unknown with Lon Chaney, also streaming on Criterion. No Country for Old Men and Election receive likewise treatment; the latter appears in “MTV Productions,” a series featuring Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, The Original Kings of Comedy, and (coming close to Freddy Got Fingered for least-expected 2024 addition) Jackass: the Movie. Hitchcock and pre-code Columbia have retrospectives if you need something to put on while family bother you during Christmas.
Meanwhile, Wim Wenders’ Room 666 and Lubna Playoust’s companion Room 999 make streaming premieres alongside Terrestrial Verses. Three films by Kenji Misumi and three films by Dónal Foreman are programmed, about the only thing they likely have in common, while restorations of Phantasm, Bleak Moments, Bushman, Le pont du nord, and L’amour fou debut. Kindly note, too, The Assassin and Benedetta among recent arthouse hits.
See the full list of December titles below:
12 Monkeys, Terry Gilliam, 1995*
Adelheid, František Vláčil, 1970
L’amour fou, Jacques Rivette, 1969
The Assassin, Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, Mike Judge, 1996*
Benedetta, Paul Verhoeven, 2021*
Bleak Moments, Mike Leigh, 1971
Bushman, David Schickele, 1971
Case for a Rookie Hangman, Pavel Juráček, 1970
Cecil B. Demented, John Waters, 2000
Cry-Baby, John Waters, 1990*
The Cry of Granuaile, Dónal Foreman, 2022
Déjà Vu, Tony Scott, 2006
Desperate Living, John Waters, 1977
The Devil’s Trap, František Vláčil, 1962
Donnie Darko, Richard Kelly, 2001
Election, Alexander Payne, 1999
Female Trouble, John Waters, 1974
Forbidden, Frank Capra, 1932
Four Murders Are Enough, Darling, Oldřich Lipský, 1971
Frenzy, Alfred Hitchcock, 1972
Hairspray, John Waters, 1988
The Hop-Pickers, Ladislav Rychman, 1964
The Image You Missed, Dónal Foreman, 2018
Jackass: The Movie, Jeff Tremaine, 2002*
Ken, Kenji Misumi, 1964
Kenki, Kenji Misumi, 1965
Kiru, Kenji Misumi, 1962
Ladies of Leisure, Frank Capra, 1930
The Lady Eve, Preston Sturges, 1941
Man’s Castle, Frank Borzage, 1933
Memento, Christopher Nolan, 2000
Mind Game, Masaaki Yuasa, 2004
Mulholland Dr., David Lynch, 2001
No Country for Old Men, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, 2007*
North by Northwest, Alfred Hitchcock, 1959
The Original Kings of Comedy, Spike Lee, 2000*
Out of Here, Dónal Foreman, 2013
Party Girl, Daisy von Scherler Mayer, 1995
Phantasm, Don Coscarelli, 1979
Polyester, John Waters, 1981
Le Pont du Nord, Jacques Rivette, 1981
Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock, 1954
Room 666, Wim Wenders, 1982
Room 999, Lubna Playoust, 2023
Rope, Alfred Hitchcock, 1948
Run Lola Run, Tom Tykwer, 1998
Saboteur, Alfred Hitchcock, 1942
Serial Mom, John Waters, 1994*
Shadow of a Doubt, Alfred Hitchcock, 1943
Shopworn, Nick Grinde, 1932
Strangers on a Train, Alfred Hitchcock, 1951
Suspicion, Alfred Hitchcock, 1941
Ten Cents a Dance, Lionel Barrymore, 1931
Terrestrial Verses, Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami, 2023
Three Wise Girls, William Beaudine, 1932
Topaz, Alfred Hitchcock, 1969
Torn Curtain, Alfred Hitchcock, 1966
The Unfortunate Bridegroom, Jiří Krejčík, 1967
The Valley of the Bees, František Vláčil, 1968
Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock, 1958
Virtue, Edward Buzzell, 1932
The White Dove, František Vláčil, 1960
The Wrong Man, Alfred Hitchcock, 1956
Yentl, Barbra Streisand, 1983
*Available in the U.S. only
The post December on the Criterion Channel Includes Bob Dylan, John Waters, MTV & More first appeared on The Film Stage.
